Gallery of the Masters Fine Art Gallery

Thomas Gainsborough

1727-1788 England-Rococo

Brief Biography-Thomas Gainsborough from the town of Sudbury, England, loved painting landscapes but became one of England’s most renowned portraitists. He was the youngest of the nine children of a humble cloth merchant. His mother who was an amateur artist recognized his talent at an early age and sent him to London when he was fifteen for tuition. He entered the Saint Martin’s Lane Academy where he gained influence from the Director William Hogarth and the portraitist and historical painter Francis Hayman. He was also influenced by his master Hubert Gravelot in the style of rococo.

He set up studio in Hatten Garden in 1745 where he made a living from selling copies of masters’ paintings. In 1764, he married Margaret Burr the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Beaufort. They had a stable marriage and his two daughters were frequently used as models in his paintings. When his Father died, they moved to Ipswich for the following seven years. There he led a busy life painting landscapes but his works failed to sell well and he begrudgingly leaned towards portraiture for a living.

It was only when he moved to Bath that his career began to take off in any appreciative manner. It wasn’t long before he became considerably successful what with the influx of visitors to Bath commissioning his work. He gained access to the works of Van Dyck and other masters in the houses of wealthy patrons, this had a profound bearing on his portraiture. In his spare time, he enjoyed learning to play the viol di gamba and other stringed instruments.

In 1768, he was made a founding member of the Royal Academy and moved to London in 1774. He was frequently at odds with the hanging committee over the way his paintings were hung and he eventually exhibited at his house in Pall Mall. It wasn’t until 1781 that he came into royal favour and did a considerable amount of work in Windsor. He now had gained a good deal of wealth and acquired an exclusive residence in Richmond.

He collaborated with Philip Jacques de Loutherbourg the illustrator and stage designer on experimental scenes and was inspired by the artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, which led to his paintings of what were referred to by his age-old rival Sir Joshua Reynolds as the “fancy pictures”. They were paintings of idyllic genre scenes mostly of beggar children which became particularly popular and achieved high prices. He spent his later years on sketching trips around England. Before he died of cancer in 1788 it was considered that he reconciled with Sir Joshua Reynolds on his deathbed.